Plot, Characters, and Representation: Patterns and Gaps in Award-Winning LGBTQ Children's Books

Children's books representing LGBTQ identities are a vital part of elementary school classrooms and libraries, as well as family resources, and more of these diverse books have been published over recent years. While existing research on these books catalogs how many of them represent traditionally marginalized groups, our research examines the diversity of narratives within these books. In this study, we used narrative critical content analysis to examine 51 books from three award lists: the Lambda Literary Awards, the Rainbow Booklist, and the Stonewall Book Awards for Children's and Young Adult Literature. These books are age-appropriate for read-alouds for all elementary grade levels based on their text complexity and storylines. We categorized books with identity-based conflicts and conflicts not based on identity. Overall, we found that books rely heavily on LGBTQ identities as the main source of conflict, using repeated plotlines of coming out, resisting bullying, love stories, and LGBTQ rights. In most cases, these repeated plotlines limit representation of LGBTQ people's complex, multifaceted lives. We discuss the implications of these repeated plotlines, and we provide a list of recommended books that represent LGBTQ characters with more multifaceted lives and provide more unique stories.